Fuselage Hole

[ColoradoSolar]

There is a gap in the fuselage between where the front side skin and mid side skin meet below and near the leading edge of the wing. What did you do to cover this gap?

 

[Kyle Boatright]

You can glue in a piece of almost anything from the inside. Aluminum, baffle material, whatever, plus a dab of RTV.

 

[N10KE]

I used a small piece of the wing root gap weatherstrip.

Unrelated - make double sure the penetrations through the fuselage for the condenser refrigerant lines are completely sealed. Otherwise, you may get some CO infiltration into the cabin. I know of three local RV-10’s with air conditioning that had this issue. It was resolved by sealing those penetrations with grommets and RTV.

 

[rocketman1988]

I used a piece of packing tape on the outside and then filled the area with canopy sealant from the inside. Once cured, I removed the tape and ended up with an exact fit smooth transition that could be painted.

Note: I did put a small piece of packing tape on the adhesive side of the larger piece so that the sealant was against the tape surface and not the adhesive side.

 

[lr172]

i also used an outer backer matched to skin shape and used epoxy flox on the inside to make a base. Then some filler and sand to shape. Will never know it was there after paint. Don't leave it open, as it will force a lot of air movement in the cabin, assuming you are going to be sealing up other openings where the wing spar enters the fuse.

 

[ColoradoSolar]

I used a small piece of the wing root gap weatherstrip.

Unrelated - make double sure the penetrations through the fuselage for the condenser refrigerant lines are completely sealed. Otherwise, you may get some CO infiltration into the cabin. I know of three local RV-10’s with air conditioning that had this issue. It was resolved by sealing those penetrations with grommets and RTV.

I have sealed around the penetrations for the AC lines. I sealed from the inside and outside and used a bright light to make sure I didn't miss anything since I don't want CO coming through those holes.

 

[ColoradoSolar]

Those are some good ideas, thanks.

i also used an outer backer matched to skin shape and used epoxy flox on the inside to make a base. Then some filler and sand to shape. Will never know it was there after paint. Don't leave it open, as it will force a lot of air movement in the cabin, assuming you are going to be sealing up other openings where the wing spar enters the fuse.

I would like to seal up everywhere I can within reason. What did you do to seal up around the wing spar area?

 

[TShort]

After a long XC, I once knocked over a pretty full jug of urine into my (thankfully uncarpeted at the time) pilot's footwell ... my unsealed hole allowed it and the water I copiously flushed it with to mostly drain out. Or it seemed like a lot came out there...

 

[lr172]

Those are some good ideas, thanks.


I would like to seal up everywhere I can within reason. What did you do to seal up around the wing spar area?

aileron tube covers and a combo of foam and rtv, mostly rtv, at the gaps around the spar and other poorly sealed openings. If i could see light through it, i sealed it. It pays off, as I have almost 0 air movement in the cabin. No drafts of any kind and I didn't even need stick boots.

 

[supik]

I covered the holes with an alu high speed tape.